Busch’s counterargument over the team’s radio will tell the tale of the Oct. 14, 2018, Talladega race: he’d never seen that style of racing before.

The 1000Bulbs.com 500 was indeed a different race. Not in a great way, and not in a bad way. Talladega was just different to what it usually known for because Stewart-Haas Racing and its four cars stole the show in what can only be described as a behind the woodshed-type whooping.

Not since the days of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip making the restrictor-plate tracks of Dayton and Talladega their personal playground had anyone seen that level of domination. From qualifying first through fourth, to finishing both stages the same way, through the 155 of 193 laps led, and ultimately finishing with one of its cars in victory lane, SHR never let the field out of the starting gate.

The most optimistic of viewers would have a hard time arguing it was even close.

Martin Truex Jr. said it wasn’t a race. Brad Keselowski marveled at their engineering. Denny Hamlin admired their speed, and tried to take solace in almost being best in class.

Stewart-Haas wasn’t just faster, though. The group also outsmarted the other 36 teams repeatedly. Restart after restart Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Aric Almirola fell perfectly into line. The display of unselfishness and commitment to teamwork might have been unprecedented. It will undoubtedly go down as historic.

Last Sunday marked the second-fewest lead changes at Talladega ever: 15. Thirteen lead changes in the spring of 1973 still stands as the lowest. Furthermore, Sunday was the first time since 1998 that the lead changed less than 20 times.

Regardless of how the race is dissected, the simple analysis is that no driver in the field seemed to have the ability or speed to put up much of a fight, or stop SHR from working together.

Kyle Busch was right. Talladega was different. It didn’t have constant two and three-wide action. But it did deliver the intrigue of seeing whether Stewart-Haas could make its plan work until the very end, or who would come out on top if the four drivers did get to settle it amongst themselves, and even the suspense – hope, for some – surrounding whether the field would eventually figure something out.

During one caution period, chuckles broke out from some in the media center as the track video feed showed a poll from Motor Racing Network (MRN) radio broadcast: Who will win? SHR or the field.

The 1000Bulbs.com 500. The second race in the Round of 12 for the NASCAR Playoffs. The Stewart-Haas Racing Invitational. However last Sunday afternoon is referenced from here on out, hopefully, it’ll be laced with respect.

]]>https://racer.com/2018/10/16/crandall-a-one-team-show/feed/02018 Talladega IImarkglendenningNASCAR's O'Donnell explains no-yellow callhttps://racer.com/2018/10/15/nascars-odonnell-explains-no-yellow-call/
https://racer.com/2018/10/15/nascars-odonnell-explains-no-yellow-call/#commentsMon, 15 Oct 2018 14:34:43 +0000http://racer.com/?p=175516After Kurt Busch questioned some non-calls by NASCAR at the end of the race at Talladega, particularly about not throwing a caution flag on the final lap, Steve O’Donnell responded Monday morning.

O’Donnell, chief racing development officer, was asked about the procedure during his weekly appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and said the sanctioning body stands by its decision not to display the caution. However, in addition to Busch’s comments and concerns, comparisons were made to the quick caution thrown Saturday afternoon in the Camping World Truck Series race, when an accident also occurred on the last lap.

Busch claimed there need to be stricter policies on such incidents at the end of races. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was leading at the time of the accident involving Matt DiBenedetto, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch. He felt there were two cars “dead in the water” sitting on the racetrack where an ambulance should have been dispatched.

More NASCAR!

“Two different races and every race is different,” O’Donnell said the race endings. “Every call is a judgment call. The [crash] on Saturday was in front of the field, you saw a couple of wheels get off the ground, and any time you’re going to have more and more of the field driving into that caution, we felt the need in that case to throw the caution. We always want to try to end under green, but in that case, we just felt like we couldn’t.

“Then on Sunday, very similar in terms of a car hitting the wall but where it happened was different and in terms of where the field was. The 32 car [DiBenedetto] then kept rolling, which is certainly a sign for us that we’re OK to keep going. The 9 car [Chase Elliott] where it stopped was right in front of our safety vehicles and had communication from the tower that that car was in good shape, so we elected to not throw the caution and finish under green.”

O’Donnell agreed there will always be concern when a car does not roll away from an accident scene or when a driver does not lower the window net. The priority becomes getting a crew to that car and driver.

“If we see a car with a window net up or a driver that we know that’s had a significant hit and is not driving off from the incident, if that were the case in this incident we would have thrown the caution and immediately had the safety vehicles rolling,” said O’Donnell.

“In this case, we felt like we had the time to get back to the checkered. We were in contact with the safety vehicles that were right there in Turn 1 and rolled those immediately once the winner crossed the start/finish line.”

“I don’t know what they figured out, but obviously they have a lot of something that nobody else has any idea about because it wasn’t even a race,” Truex said. “Everybody else would get strung out, double file just cars not handling good. They qualified top four and outhandled everybody. So that’s pretty impressive what they did today.”

Combined, Stewart-Haas drivers led 155 of the 193 laps. But if the numbers weren’t impressive enough, replay will show that the four drivers — Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Aric Almirola — only left each other’s bumpers twice: once during a run where they were shuffled into the field because of pit stops, and at the end of the race when things got dramatic on the overtime restart.

More NASCAR!

Busch qualified on the pole with Bowyer second, Harvick third and Almirola fourth. When the race started, that is mostly how they ran. The four worked together on each and every restart to make sure they got lined up and then logged laps until the finish.

Busch won Stage 1. Harvick won Stage 2. In both stages, all four cars finished first through fourth.

“It sounds like they have some really good engineering,” said Brad Keselowski.

Said Joey Logano: “Those Stewart-Haas cars drove great, and they were really, really fast. They showed it in qualifying, and they were so committed to each other, and they did a great job. They probably would have finished 1-2-3-4 if they didn’t run out of gas, so they were definitely quick.”

The Stewart-Haas Racing quartet stuck like glue to one another for most of the race, sometimes running in a pack at the front all by themselves. (Image by Kinrade/LAT)

Almirola won the race when he got around Busch as Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap of overtime in Turn 4. Bowyer finished second. Harvick had run out of fuel coming to the overtime restart. Before it all went away, the four were going to once again restart in the top four positions.

Asked what he learned from what the SHR cars were able to do, Chase Elliott replied, “I learned that we are probably going to race in the Talladega Roval if it continues.”

How was Stewart-Haas able to control the race? Competition director Greg Zipadelli said it all started with preaching about the big picture during the week in team meetings.

“I think after last week, we didn’t do a great job executing as a group, because we could have had the same result,” Zipadelli said. “We just talked a lot about it. I just think everybody said, we need to help each other, work together like teamwork, show everybody that we are teammates. I felt like our cars were strong enough that if we did that, we would have a very strong day.

“We came in here with the 10 [Almirola] and the 14 [Bowyer] needing stage points. Everybody executed that perfectly. Then at the end of the race, let’s do everything we can to help each other. Everybody knew the circumstances. Hats off to drivers and crew chiefs. Nobody was selfish today. Everybody looked out for each other. That’s a great feeling as far as from my perspective.

“We pay these guys every week honestly to be selfish, take care of themselves, run as hard as they can and finish up as high as they can, win as many races as they can. Everybody gave and took today. Very proud moment for Stewart-Haas.”

]]>https://racer.com/2018/10/14/shr-takes-teamwork-to-next-level-at-talladega/feed/22018 Talladega IIraceralisonTruex's bad day with 'screwed up' car could have been worsehttps://racer.com/2018/10/14/truexs-bad-day-with-screwed-up-car-could-have-been-worse/
https://racer.com/2018/10/14/truexs-bad-day-with-screwed-up-car-could-have-been-worse/#respondSun, 14 Oct 2018 23:30:36 +0000http://racer.com/?p=175458Martin Truex Jr. understood Talladega would be a crapshoot, so he tried not to get too stressed through the weekend. But late in the going Sunday afternoon, it was crew chief Cole Pearn who started to worry.

“Once [Cole] realized, he was like, oh man, this isn’t getting better,” Truex said of the No. 78 team’s position in the playoffs. “We thought there would be some big pileups earlier and there wasn’t, so we were kind of looking pretty stupid there at the end of the race having rode around all day.

“But with that being said, I couldn’t race any harder than I did or I would have caused a crash.”

More NASCAR!

Truex finished 23rd and was not a factor in the finish or much of the competition. Early on, Truex realized something was wrong with his Toyota Camry and told his team it felt like something in the drivetrain, saying there was a banging and it was causing him to get out of shape.

Running around the back of the pack — more because of what his car was doing than to stay out of trouble — Truex was in danger of losing ground in the playoffs. But Truex said he couldn’t even race with the pack or truly compete because his car was “so screwed up.”

“That’s all I had,” Truex said. “It was as good as my car would run today. Wheel barrel was falling apart on me, I think; felt like it anyways. There was times where I thought on those long runs the rear end housing was about to fall out of it. I don’t know what was going on. I really thought it was breaking. I thought I was not going to finish the race.”

Truex felt like he caught a break at the end of the race with cautions, allowing him to come down pit road and get tires. On fresh tires, Truex had enough grip to run hard before he had to start hanging onto the car again. Even with a mid-pack finish, Truex called it a positive that the day went from really bad to not that terrible.

“We went from being three points out to being 18 to go the good,” said Truex.

Truex is a former winner at NASCAR’s next stop, Kansas, which will trim the playoff field from 12 to eight. Now eighth on the playoff grid, he does have an 18-point advantage on the cutline, which is Brad Keselowski.

“I feel good,” Truex said. “Not a great spot. I think that’s one of the places we feel best about; it’s been really good for us. It’s racing. It’s the Cup Series; a lot can happen.

“We’ll have to come in there and make sure we have a solid day. No mistakes and don’t beat ourselves, and I feel like we’ll have a shot at winning there. It’ll be fun, and look forward to it.”

]]>https://racer.com/2018/10/14/truexs-bad-day-with-screwed-up-car-could-have-been-worse/feed/02018 Talladega IIraceralisonKurt Busch critical of NASCAR's late-race decisionshttps://racer.com/2018/10/14/kurt-busch-critical-of-nascars-late-race-decisions/
https://racer.com/2018/10/14/kurt-busch-critical-of-nascars-late-race-decisions/#commentsSun, 14 Oct 2018 22:54:12 +0000http://racer.com/?p=175451Kurt Busch controlled much of Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway and was leading on the final lap in overtime before running out of fuel in Turn 4.

But afterward, Busch raised an issue with what he felt were two non-calls by NASCAR late in the race which played into the finish.

More NASCAR!

A caution with three laps left of the originally scheduled race distance set up an overtime restart. Busch felt NASCAR ran an extra lap under caution before the field was shown the green flag again. NASCAR overtime consists of drivers seeing the green flag with three laps to go.

With some teams close on fuel, a few drivers ran around on the apron under caution with Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski running out of fuel coming to the green flag. Busch ran out on the last lap.

“Why we had an extra yellow flag lap is beyond me, the track was ready to go,” Busch told NBC Sports.

The second issue was the final-lap accident in Turn 1. After Busch took the white flag with Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer chasing him, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, and Paul Menard, a crash broke out involving Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott.

“At the end, once we cross the white flag if there’s a wreck and an ambulance needs to be dispatched — I’ve been on the other side of that where I was racing coming back to win the race, and they said, well we had to dispatch an ambulance,” said Busch.

“There was two cars dead in the water down there. Chase Elliott’s safety is of my concern, so was the 32 car. So, it’s a human call. There’s rules that need to be stricter at the end of these races.”

Busch started the 1000Bulbs.com 500 from the pole and won Stage 1. He led a race-high 108 laps and was credited with a 14th-place finish.

“We ran out of gas,” Busch said. “It’s hard to save gas as the leader, and I was pulling out all the information that I could. My team did an incredible job to tell me about the different situations, and we came up a little shy on fuel.

“Wow, what a car. Thanks to Doug Yates and everybody at Ford. Very impressive.”

NASCAR responded to Busch’s concerns in a statement: “We were closely monitoring each car involved, and were actively communicating with spotters and safety trucks in Turn 1. All cars were able to either roll off under their own power or signal they were clear. As always, we make every effort to end under green for our fans in the stands and at home, which we did.”

]]>https://racer.com/2018/10/14/kurt-busch-critical-of-nascars-late-race-decisions/feed/12018 Talladega IIraceralisonLarson faces uphill climb to make Round of 8https://racer.com/2018/10/14/larson-faces-uphill-climb-to-make-round-of-8/
https://racer.com/2018/10/14/larson-faces-uphill-climb-to-make-round-of-8/#respondSun, 14 Oct 2018 22:50:48 +0000http://racer.com/?p=175465Kyle Larson is not in a must-win situation for the second playoff elimination race at Kansas Speedway, but making up 26 points will be a tall task for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver.

Larson is 11th on the playoff grid, below a transfer spot, after two disappointing weeks in the Round of 8. Out of the picture for most of the weekend, Larson grabbed an 11th-place finish in the 1000Bulbs.com 500, despite a spin that left fender damage on Lap 105 and aided by missing the wrecks at the end.

“We just had a terrible racecar and were really slow all weekend,” said Larson, who qualified 34th. “We were able to salvage a decent finish, but the Fords are so fast here and can rack up a lot of stage points. Even when they have a bad day, they still gain points on us. It is what it is. We’ll just go to Kansas and try and win.”

Larson did not earn stage points in either of the stages at Talladega.

Last weekend, Larson finished a quiet 12th at Dover — a surprising day considering Larson is thought of as a Dover favorite after strong runs there in the past. That includes earning two runner-up finishes and leading 463 laps in 10 starts.

Kansas is also one of Larson’s better tracks as he excels on the 1.5-milers. A fourth-place effort in the spring race was Larson’s third top-10 finish in his 10th start.

“We’ve challenged for wins there in the past, and hopefully we can go there next week and be strong,” he said.

]]>https://racer.com/2018/10/14/larson-faces-uphill-climb-to-make-round-of-8/feed/02018 Talladega IIraceralisonKurt Busch takes Talladega pole as SHR sweeps top four spotshttps://racer.com/2018/10/13/kurt-busch-takes-talladega-pole-as-shr-sweeps-top-four-spots/
https://racer.com/2018/10/13/kurt-busch-takes-talladega-pole-as-shr-sweeps-top-four-spots/#commentsSat, 13 Oct 2018 22:30:53 +0000http://racer.com/?p=175369The first and second rounds of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway looked exactly the same for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Kurt Busch won the pole for the 1000Bulbs.com 500 with a lap of 195.804 mph. Busch’s teammates Clint Bowyer (195.301 mph), Kevin Harvick (195.186 mph) and Aric Almirola (194.571 mph) swept the next three spots.

The group had filled out the same order in the first round of single-car qualifying.

“I’m shaking hands with the Mobil 1 guys right now — Doug Yates, and those guys build so much quality power and then when you have a technology partner like Mobil 1, and it plays out, and you see it in four Stewart Haas Fords, really happy I got the fast one,” said Busch.

“Thanks to Monster Energy and Haas Automation. We’re on the pole; this is my first restrictor-plate pole ever. Ever. It took me 20 years; I got one.”

More NASCAR!

The pole is Busch’s fifth of the season; he also started from the top spot at Texas, Michigan, Loudon and the Charlotte road course. While it’s the 27th of his career, Busch will start from the pole at Talladega for the first time.

Four playoff drivers will start 18th or worse. Brad Keselowski clocked in 18th (191.900 mph) with his Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney 19th (191.731 mph) and Joey Logano 22nd (191.386 mph). Penske enters Talladega on a hot streak having won at least once at the facility each season dating back to 2014.

Kyle Larson was the slowest qualifying playoff driver. Sitting 11th on the playoff grid, Larson will start from the 34th position following a lap of 188.731 mph.

David Starr was the only driver who failed to qualify for the race. Starr was attempting to qualify with Obaika Racing in what would have been the team’s debut race in the NASCAR Cup Series.

All results from qualifying are unofficial until post-qualifying inspection is complete.

“I say they don’t know what they’re talking about because they haven’t spent any time around our guys and seen the passion they have for what we do,” said Truex, who qualified 11th for Sunday’s Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. “The same thing that’s gotten us here to where we are as a team is the same thing that will carry us through the end of the season. I haven’t seen any reason to worry or be concerned.”

The reigning series champions have six races left together. Truex and crew chief Cole Pearn are rumored to be headed to Joe Gibbs Racing next season while many others from the group are looking for jobs.

More NASCAR!

Fourth on the playoff grid, Truex has a 36-point gap on the cutoff line. Advancing into the second round of the playoffs by points, Truex must survive Talladega to keep his advantage intact going into the elimination race next weekend in Kansas. And survive is the key for Truex, since he has not finished a Talladega race since the spring of 2016. Truex’s last top-10 finish at Talladega was the fall of 2015.

“I think if you look in general in what we’ve done in the playoffs, it’s been pretty spectacular outside getting in a few wrecks and some things happening to us,” Truex said. “We undoubtedly stepped up our performance when the playoffs started. That’s what you have to do.”

Off two straight third-place finishes to start the playoffs, Truex was spun by Jimmie Johnson in the final chicane on the last lap at Charlotte. Last weekend in Dover, Truex was running up front when he was collected in the big wreck on the backstretch with four laps to go. Through it all, Truex said he’s “not worried at all” about the team staying the course.

“I think the guys are working hard and as fired up as they’ve ever been,” Truex said. “Obviously, it’s not the greatest situation for a lot of them to be in. They’re doing a great job of being professional and keeping their heads down and trying to do what got us here.”

If delivering a walk-off championship to team owner Barney Visser wasn’t incentive enough, back-to-back titles would make Truex the first driver to pull off the feat since Jimmie Johnson’s five straight from 2006 to 2010.

“It would be unbelievable,” said Truex. “Obviously, that’s our goal right now, and it’s going to be a challenge. I think we’re up to it. I feel like we’re as good or better than we were last year and we’ll just have to see. There are so many things that have to go your way. If we can just shake the bad luck and shake the fact that we seem to get in bad positions here lately, we’ll have a shot at it.”

]]>https://racer.com/2018/10/13/no-quit-in-furniture-row/feed/02018 SonomaraceralisonGragson spins, Peters wins Truck race at Talladegahttps://racer.com/2018/10/13/gragson-spins-peters-wins-truck-race-at-talladega/
https://racer.com/2018/10/13/gragson-spins-peters-wins-truck-race-at-talladega/#respondSat, 13 Oct 2018 21:30:32 +0000http://racer.com/?p=175360Racing for just the fourth time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season, Timothy Peters fought off a block from Noah Gragson on the final lap of the Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway to become the first three-time winner in the series at the 2.66-mile track.

Driving in the last of his three events for GMS Racing, Peters started a move to the outside of Gragson’s Toyota on the backstretch. When Gragson moved up to block, Peters stayed in the gas, and Gragson’s No. 18 Tundra spun across the nose of Peters’ Chevrolet into the outside wall.

More NASCAR!

NASCAR called a caution for the wreck, freezing the field with Peters in the lead.

For Gragson, there was the consolation of moving into the Round of 6 of the NCWTS Playoffs. Matt Crafton did likewise, despite being collected in a 10-car wreck on Lap 59 of 94 and finishing 26th. Gragson and Crafton join Round of 8 winners Justin Haley and Grant Enfinger, along with Brett Moffitt and Johnny Sauter, in the Round of 6.

Despite a sixth-place result, Stewart Friesen was eliminated from the playoffs, as was Ben Rhodes, who ran 16th, one lap down, after his No. 41 Ford sustained damaged in the same wreck that sidelined Crafton.

But it was Peters who emerged from the last-lap chaos with the victory.

“Everybody’s wanting to win,” Peters said, who triumphed for the 11th time in his career and the first time since 2015. “Everybody’s wanting to block. I wanted to win, too, because this is my last go-around on the three-race stint. So, at the end of the day, I was going for it.

“These guys right here (the No. 25 GMS Chevrolet team) worked their butts off. It just feels so good, so good. … Man, I love this place, and it’s so cool to be a three-time winner. But this is not about me. It’s about the team. This team put together this truck back at the shop, and I was just the lucky one who got to drive it today.”

Myatt Snider finished a career-best second, followed by pole winner David Gilliland, Haley and Wendell Chavous, who scored his only top five in 50 starts.

With his playoff hopes on the line, Crafton had to sweat out the final 30 laps after exiting the race in the aftermath of the afternoon’s largest wreck. But Rhodes couldn’t recover the lap he lost because of the accident, and Friesen couldn’t challenge for the victory because his engine was down on power.

“I saw some people getting turned up in front of me, and I got hooked in the right-rear,” Crafton said of the wreck that put his playoff chances in jeopardy. “The next thing I knew I was facing the fence and hit head-on. …

“That’s Talladega for you. It’s all out of your hands from when we drop the green. I mean, when you’re racing and people are side-by-side bouncing off each other like that. We did everything we could do the first two segments and let her fly from there.”

Crafton, a two-time series champion, was fourth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2, collecting 16 points that proved crucial to his advancement into the Round of 6. Crafton finished the Round of 8 four points ahead of Rhodes and six ahead of Friesen.

Sauter also sustained heavy damage in the Lap 59 wreck, but by then the regular-season champion had collected 17 stage points, enough to lock him into the next round.

Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, and David Ragan lost 15 minutes for their cars being late to inspection last weekend. Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were docked the same amount of time for their cars failing pre-race inspection twice.

Brad Keselowski, DJ Kennington, and Landon Cassill also lost 15 minutes as their spotters missed a mandatory spotters meeting.

Darrell Wallace Jr. sat out the final 30 minutes for his car failing pre-race inspection three times last weekend.